The Russian
by Alexi Vasilyevich Talenski
Summary: Maya Talenski is a normal Russian girl in a Normal Russian High School, but that all changes one day, when she receives a letter. NOTE: This takes place before during and after the events of the anime series. I own nothing except the O.C, everything else belongs to Sentai Filmworks and Actas. Rated T for Language and Violence
1. The Letter

Maya Talenski was awoken by a knock on her apartment door at 7:17 in the morning. She grumbled as she got up from her warm soft bed and walked to the door, still in her pajamas. It wasn't an easy life living in Moscow especially during the winter, but her High School was there and she wanted to be as close as possible, her blonde hair was all messed up from the frequent nightmares that made her roll around in her bed. She got to the door and there was Lyudmila, her friend from foreign language class, they were both in their first year of high school.

"Privet!" said Lyudmila in her light tone, and then she gasped.

"Why are you not dressed yet class starts in 10 minutes!"

Maya looked at her watch and screamed, she quickly got into her uniform and put on her jacket and her lucky winter hat her father had gave her.

"Chert poberi" Maya swore.

The two girls barely made to to school in time. First class Maya had was history, this month they were learning about the Great Patriotic War. Right now the class was learning about the Battle of Kursk and Stalingrad. Maya was an expert with Russian tanks, she knew tons of them, her favorite tank however wasn't Russian, it was the British TOG-II, it had such a weird appearance it was funny to her, but it had a powerful QF 17-pounder gun, but the tank was deemed obsolete by 1941. She knew about the Iosef Stalin-2 the most, because her great great grandfather had fought as a loader in one during the Great Patriotic War.

The IS-2 or Iosef Stalin 2 was a 4-seat Russian Heavy Tank made in 1944 to combat German heavy tanks such as the Tiger. It had 120 mm of armor at the front, 90 mm on the side, and 60 mm at the rear. It supported a 122mm D25-T gun on an IS-122 gun turret. A V-2-54IS engine powered it; the Radio Operator used a 12-RT radio to communicate. Maya always thought about this tank when someone mentioned the Great Patriotic War.

Then the PA crackled and said.

"Maya Talenski to the Student Council Room please, thank you"

'Oh god what did I do this time?' Maya thought to herself.

She got up and walked to the Student Council room. When she got there Anna the President looked at her and said.

"Bad hair day?"

Maya realized she didn't clean up her hair this morning.

"AH! ... Da" Maya said feebly

"Don't worry about it," said Lucya the Vice President, handing her a brush.

"Spasiba!" Maya said, she was elated to finally brush her untidy hair.

Her hair stopped at her shoulders so took a relatively short amount of time to brush. Once she was done the Council PR, handed Maya a paper. It was completely in Japanese. This was okay for Maya, she knew enough Japanese to read the letter, the student council PR had to help her once or twice.

Dear Maya Talenski,

Your request for a transfer here has been reviewed and you have been accepted as a foreign transfer student at our school. We look forward to be receiving you aboard the School Ship; inside this letter is a Airplane ticket that will take you to Kyoto where our ship is currently docked. You are the first Russian student selected to be transferred here. I hope to meet you in person when you get here.

Sincerely,

Yawashi Kukiko

Student Council President

Pravda High School


	2. A New and Old Friend

**Pravda High School-Meeting Room**

Nonna was sitting at the meeting room table eating some Solyanka (a Russian style soup) when she heard the door open behind her. She didn't need to turn around she knew who it was.

"Hello Nonna" came the childish voice that only could've belonged to Katyusha, the captain of the school's Tankery team.

Katyusha, even though she was small was the same age as Nonna, 16. She suffered from "Napoleon-complex" or a below average height, her voice also hadn't changed much either. But she was a good leader and everyone seemed fine to have her as a captain, even the seniors were okay with her.

"Did you do your research?" Katyusha asked

"Yes" came the reply

"And?"

"I think we have found the new crew members," said Nonna

"Really? What are their names?"

"Lyudmila Karzikov, Tanya Morvevsky, and Maya Talenski"

"Wait are you talking about the three transfers?" said Katyusha, shocked

There was a long pause then came the answer.

"Hai"

**Kyoto Docks**

Maya stared with curiosity at the large ship that was in the harbor.

'Is that the school ship?' she thought

She had heard stories about these ships but she never expected it to be THAT big, that thing was a floating town.

"Lisus" she muttered under her breath.

She was walking up the gangway ramp she heard two girls speaking in a very familiar language.

"Hey, is that Russian?" she spoke in very shaky Japanese. She walked over to the two girls, one had dark brown hair and one very light blonde hair

"Uhh…hai" said the Brown haired girl.

"Maya Talenski, Standard class III, first year, born June 22nd" this time she spoke in Russian

"Tanya Morvevsky, Standard class I, first year, born July 12th" also in Russian

"Maya?" said the Blonde haired girl. Maya recognized that voice instantly.

"Lyudmila!" Maya cried as she embraced her best friend.

"I am guessing you got transferred here as well Maya" Lyudmila said, stating the obvious as always.

"Nyet! I came here for the visit!" Maya said sarcastically.

The three talked about their hometowns, Maya learned that Tanya was born in a town called Gryazovets, which was about 5 hours from Moscow. Maya was born in Massachusetts, USA, and then a year later the family moved back to Russia after living in America for only 3 years. Lyudmila was born in St. Petersburg but Maya already knew that, Tanya didn't though.

About an hour later Maya got to her new apartment she waved good-bye to her friends and walked upstairs to her apartment door. She got into her pajamas and went to sleep for the night.


	3. The Meeting

**Maya's Homeroom: 7:26**

Maya had barely made it to school, she had slept in…a little, this was common with Maya, and she had always had this problem since her mom had died. She had overheard some girls talking about what they were going to do for their mandatory electives. One of the girls mentioned Tankery, which made Maya involuntarily shiver, her mother had been on the Russian international team when she was younger, and her mom had some…well, shall we say unpleasant experiences with tanks.

**Four and a Half hours later: Pravda Lunchroom**

Maya, Lyudmila, and Tanya were sitting at their table eating some of the lunches that they packed, none of them really trusted school food and packed lunches were allowed so they each made their own lunch. Maya had pirozhki with rice, onion, and meat filling, Lyudmila had vatrushka, and Tanya had piroggi with meat filling. Then all of a sudden the PA buzzed.

"Maya Talenski, Lyudmila Karzikov, and Tanya Morvevsky please report to the Meeting room on the second floor immediately, arigatō."

Maya, Lyudmila, and Tanya looked at each other. What had they done to get in trouble on their first day? They put their remaining lunch in their bags and walked together up to the second floor. When they got to the meeting room two girls, one extremely tall girl, and one really short girl greeted them.

"My name is Katyusha, this is Nonna" said the smaller one gesturing to the taller one. Nonna nodded and said.

"Zdravstvuyte!" in broken Russian.

"Katyusha? Like the BM-8-48 Rocket Launcher or the song?" asked Maya

Katyusha looked at Nonna, who then looked at Maya.

"The BM-8-48" she replied

Then Katyusha cleared her throat causing the three Russian girls to snap their gaze to her direction, and then Katyusha started to rattle off names off of a paper.

"Mladshiy Serzhant Vasily Morvevsky, Commander/ Gunner, T-34-76" she said looking up at Tanya.

Katyusha went back to the paper

"Yefreytor Maxim Karzikov, Driver, KV-2"

This time she looked up at Lyudmila.

'Wait' Maya thought, 'Are those their great great grandparents?'

"Starshina Stanislav Talenski, Commander, IS-2" Katyusha completed the list and looked up.

"You are all the great great granddaughters of at least one Russian World War II tanker...interesting. Have any of you ever been in a tank before?"

Lyudmila and Maya raised their hands

"My father is in the Russian army as a tanker" Lyudmila told them.

"My grandfather showed me around an IS-2 that was open at a museum in Ukraine" said Maya

"Are any of you strategists?" Maya and Tanya raised their hands, Maya had played strategy board games with her brother when she was younger, and Tanya had played some strategy style video games.

"Can any of you drive?" Lyudmila was the only one to raise her hand, her father had taught her when she was 14.

Katyusha got a satisfied look on her face. "What do you think about tankery?"

There was a silence...but only for a moment. Maya spoke first.

"My mother did tankery when she was younger" Maya shrugged

"I watched the International games last year" said Lyudmila

"I have only heard rumors about it, but it sounds fun." finalized Tanya

"Well, hmm, Nonna should we?" asked Katyusha

"Hai. I think it would be interesting to have them"

"Alright then! So...how would you like to join our sensha-dō team?"

"Really?" asked Tanya

"Are you sure?" asked Lyudmila

"Yep! We are sure" confirmed Katyusha

"I guess I'll do it, then" replied Tanya

"Me too," agreed Lyudmila

"AH! Uuuhhh, I don't know." Maya said, unsure of herself.

She felt a hand on her shoulder; she looked and saw Lyudmila smiling at her.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to, Maya"

"Nyet! I will take sensha-dō with you guys!" Maya finally agreed.

Katyusha and Nonna both smiled.

"Great!" said Katyusha

"Welcome to the team, come on the others will want to meet you." Nonna told them.

"Nonna take them to the tank garage, I will call the team down." Katyusha told Nonna.

"Hai" came the reply

Nonna led the girls down to the tank garage and told them.

"We need a crew for the IS-2, I guess you will fill that spot."

Maya raised her hand.

"Yes, Maya?"

"The IS-2 is a four seater, we are down a member, miss."

"Ah…see that's where I come in, I will be gunner/commander of the tank." Replied Nonna

"How?" asked Lyudmila

"Well since I am the most accurate gunner on the team I will take the gunner position during combat and take the commander spot when we are not in combat, okay?"

"Hai" came the reply from the three girls.

"Now I want you to choose your positions" Nonna told them.

"I think we should take the positions of our great great grandfathers" Tanya said.

Maya and Lyudmila both nodded.

"So that makes me the driver, Tanya the Gunner (during ambush/ surprise combat sequences) and the Commander during Regular combat sequences), but what position will Maya take?" asked Lyudmila.

"I can take the loader position, thats what my great great grandfather was before he commanded a tank." Maya said

"Then it's decided then?" asked Nonna, in choppy but understandable Russian

"Da" came the answer from the 3 girls


	4. Teammates

**_AUTHORS NOTE:_**

**_In the last chapter the question on Nonna's position in the IS-2 might have been confusing. In the anime she is appears as a commander of a tank (a T34-85), but she switches to the IS-2 when it appears, as a gunner, so I had to find a reason for that, that was the best I could come up with. Thank you for your co-operation. _**

**_Sincerely,_**

**_A.V.T_**

**Pravda Tank Holding Bay**

"This is the team" Katyusha pointing to the 19 or so other crews of the Pravda Tankery team.

"Group up with your teams next to your tanks" ordered Katyusha

The girls rushed to the line of tanks, most were T-34-76s, there were a lot T-34-85s, there was one KV-2 and an IS-2 as well, but there was no crew for that obviously, the 3 new Russian girls filled that spot.

"Sound off, right to left" Nonna said, calmly

"We are Hammer-1, T-34-76. I am Chika, the commander and radio operator; this is Cho our gunner, Hanako our loader; and Haya our Driver" said the far right one

In fact all of the Hammer group's tanks were T-34-76s. They made up 10 of the tanks of the team.

"We are Sickle-1, T-34-85, I am Mari, the Commander; this is Koto, our radio operator; Leiko our gunner; Rei our loader; and Sachi our driver"

Sickle group's tanks were comprised of 7 of the T-34-85s, significantly smaller than Hammer group.

"That leaves us," said Katyusha

"We are Star group, with the KV-2, IS-2 and the last 2 T-34s" explained Nonna

"My team is Star-4, I am Kukiko, Student Council President, commander; this is Kichi my VP and my Gunner; Seiko, the PR manager and Loader; Yukie, assistant PR and Radio operator; and finally Tori, secretary and driver" said the girl next to the second to last T-34-85

"We are Star-3, I am Shinako the Commander, this is Aoi our radio operator; Chizo and Choko our loaders; Fuyu our gunner; and Hiroko our driver." Said the girl closest to the KV-2

Then Katyusha spoke up "My tank is Star-1; this is Gin our radio operator; Hama our Gunner; Iwa our loader; and Kiwaka our Driver" gesturing towards the last T-34-85.

"That leaves you guys, why don't you introduce yourselves?" Nonna told the 3 young Russians.

"My name is Tanya, I am the commander and gunner (sometimes), nice to meet you" nodded Tanya

"I am Lyudmila, I will be driving this thing" Lyudmila said, pointing at the IS-2

Maya grinned, now it was time to prove that they were Russian "Menya zovut Maya, ya uveren, zagruzka. Priyatno poznakomit'sya so vsemi vami"

It took a minute but the girls had learned Russian in classes so they were able to translate.

"Aaahhh" all the other tankers exclaimed in realization.

**Hammer Group**

**Tanks: T-34-76 (10)**

**Leader: Chika**

**Amount of Tanks: 10**

**Sickle Group**

**Tanks: T-34-85 (6)**

**Leader: Mari**

**Amount of Tanks: 6**

**Star Group**

**Tanks: T-34-85 (2), KV-2, IS-2**

**Leader: Katyusha**

**Amount of Tanks: 4**


	5. Surprises at Practice

**_Author's Note_**

**If you have seen the character list near the summary you will notice the names, Miho N. and Yukari A. Yes I will be getting to that soon. Probably in a week or so. And also I might be posting less soon, because of high school (first year). I will try to put in a chapter every two or so days when school starts. Spasibo!**

**Sincerely,**

**_A.V.T_**

"Ute!" cried Katyusha

The sound of T-34-76 guns started to fill the air. The firing started at the right with Hammer Group and made its way left towards Sickle and Star Group. Then the T-34-85s started to bark, their 85mm ZiS-S-53 guns sounded only slightly more impressive than the 76mm S-54 guns on the T-34-76s. When the first T-34-85 started to fire Nonna looked at Maya and said.

"Maya load an Armor Piercing Tracer Shell"

"Hai" Maya replied

Maya picked up a shell with the marking BR-471 on it marking it as one of the Armor Piercing Tracer Shells used by the IS series of tanks. She leveled the shell horizontally placed half of it in the gun breach and then used her right hand to shove the round into place, after that, she took the cartrige and also shoved it into place, she pulled her hand back allowing the breach to close. Lyudmila looked at her from the driver position with amazement.

"Maya that shell is 25 kilograms, how di-?"

"The job that I never told you about was working in a labor facility, the 122 mm shell feels like 10 kilograms to me," replied Maya, shrugging her shoulders

Indeed Maya was strong for her age, although she did not appear it. After her dad had died when she was 13 1/2, she and her brother needed to find work to keep fed. They found a good paying labor facility in Moscow; the owner took pity on them after hearing their story and told them he would pay them more than the normal worker if they worked hard enough. They usually had to carry around 20 kilogramss of…well stuff around to the loading bay, thankfully they allowed female workers. Two years later they quit the job after her brother found work at a local business facility only a couple miles from Maya's High School; Maya also got a job as an assistant manager at a restaurant in Moscow's downtown district, so she moved out to her own apartment, a block from the school, she had decided to study as a history major, so she could be a teacher when she was older. She wasn't obsessed with but loved tanks; she had always found them fascinating. Her dad had taken her to Bovington Tank Museum in England when she was 10. That's where she found her favorite tank the TOG-II. But enough of the flashback, back to the task at hand.

"Gun Up!" yelled Maya

When the firing was almost at Star Group the radio crackled, Katyusha's voice could be heard.

"Star 2 and 3 hold fire until Star-4 has fired."

Tanya put her hand up to her throat communicator.

"Hai" she replied.

Then she heard the shot from a T-34-85 to her left.

"Stars 2 and 3 fire" came Katyusha's voice.

The blast of the 122mm D-25T gun made the guns of the T-34s sound like the 34mm SA35 gun on the AMX-40 French Light tank. However when the 152 mm D10 gun of the KV-2 finally let fly…well let's just say the sound was so loud it made the IS-2's gun sound like the 7.5cm KwK 40 L/48 gun used by the Panzerkampfwagen IV (Pz. Kpfw. IV) or Panzer IV German Medium tank, and the T-34's guns sound like the 2cm KwK 30 L/55 gun used by the Schwerer Panzerspähwagen 232 German armored car.

Every tank stopped firing and the team walked out to view the results. Hammer only had one hit, and that was well below the bull's-eye. The girls of Sickle had four hits, one of which was about 7 centimeters from the bull's eye. Finally it came to Star group, Katyusha's shot had hit just 3 centimeters from the target.

"Imaimashī (Damn)" Hama swore.

The KV-2's shot had barely made it on to the paper most of it plowed into the ground, the 152mm D-10 gun was known for it's mediocre accuracy.

"Aawww" pouted Fuyu

They looked over at the President's shot; it didn't even make it onto the target it hit 3 meters short

"Nice shot, Seiko" joked Kukiko

"That was right on the money," said Cho

"Oh shut up" said Seiko, blushing in embarrassment

"Didn't we forget someone?" asked Katyusha pointing at the 122mm shaped hole through the bull's-eye that was marked IS-2 at the top. At that everyone stared in amazement at the IS-2 team's shot.

"I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she was a great marksman, said Maya, her amber eyes wide open with astonishment.


	6. The News

**_Authors Note:_**

**I have decided that I will try to post as many chapters I can in a day (and I am planning a lot), I think I spent about 2-3 hours getting information (and Japanese names), writing, and re-watching the anime on my Xbox console. And you know what? I am having fun doing this. In this chapter we will look at Kuromorimine and Yukari when they find out actual "Professional Russians" (imagine I said that in an FPSRussia accent) have joined Pravda's ranks. If you have looked at my profile you will notice I am saying my location is in the Russian Federation, not true, I am from Russia, but my family moved to North Carolina when I was about 4, I am just stating my nationality. Proshchayte.**

**_A.V.T_**

Shiho Nishizumi was table across from her two daughters, Maho, a Second year; and Miho a first year, both attended Kuromorimine Girls High School when the phone rang. Shiho stood up and walked to the phone. Miho and Maho heard her from the other room

"Hai? Hmmm, Interesting. Okay, thank you"

Shiho walked back in the room.

"What is it mother?" asked Miho.

"It seems Pravda has enlisted some transfer students into their sensha-dō team.," answered Shiho.

"Why does this matter?" asked Maho

"Yeah, why is there a cause for concern?" agreed Miho

"It matters because those girls are supposedly really good with their tank already" replied Shiho

"How is that possible? They only just started practice, like what 2 weeks ago?" asked Maho, confused

"They learned that quickly?" Miho asked, by this time her head was literally swimming with confusion.

"I guess so" Shiho finally answered

"I guess we will have to train harder then" said Maho

"No, it does not matter, we will crush them either way" Shiho replied

**Oarai School Ship**

Yukari was once again in the tankery shop, she had heard that there was a new model of a T34-2 Chinese medium tank, complete with the 122mm 37-122JT gun mounted on the T-34 model 2 turret. As she was in the process of buying the T34-2 model she looked over at the TV. The news was on, suddenly the picture of the new Super Destroyer that the Japanese had recently built switched to a picture of 3 girls on top of an IS-2 heavy tank, their Black and Green uniforms with a red-four pointed star above the right breast designated them as members of the Pravda sensha-dō team. The newscaster said.

"In other news, Pravda High school has added rather unique members to their Tankery team"

The screen cut to a picture of the 3 same girls but closer up Yukari could see they were not Japanese.

"Three Russians (whose names are still unknown to everyone but Pravda) have joined the Pravda High team. Pravda has given us information on what tank they will be operating"

The screen cut again, this time to a video, this showed the IS-2 firing it's main gun.

"The Russian girls are currently servicing the IS-2 Russian heavy tank, we look forward to Pravda's next matches, to see how the new members do in a real fight." Then the news went back to normal.

Yukari left the Tankery shop (With her model tank of course) and rushed home, eager to tell her mom what she had learned.


	7. We're having A Match!

**Author's Note:**

**It's me again and I just wanted to say- wait what the hell am I doing? Back to the story.**

Life changed for Maya and her friends, they had practice every day after school, it was tiring but it felt like they were doing something great for their new school. Their Japanese was doing better to, Lyudmila was the best out of the 3 of them, Maya was the worst, but still managed. About 2 weeks after the first practice, in the middle of the day, all of the Tankery team was called down to the Tank bay. When the whole team was there Katyusha spoke up.

"We have been asked to a friendly match by Kuromorimine Girls High in three days, therefore we will excuse you from your classes so we can practice"

There was a slight murmur throughout the tankers; Maya knew about that school, they were pretty tough, but she didn't know how tough…yet.

"Do we know where the match will take place?" asked Lyudmila

"Hai" replied Katyusha "You'll be right a home there" she said grinning.

"EEEHH!?" exclaimed all the girls knowing that this meant, it was going to be…well cold, very cold

"I suggest finding something warm we will be crossing into Russian waters soon" Nonna calmly stated.

"Oh and paint your tanks white, we will want to be as camouflaged as possible." Katyusha finally said, pointing at Pravda's Russian-Green colored tanks.

**Two Days Later: Tank Bay**

Pravda had finished painting their tanks just in time, the cold air finally started to sweep in, Maya had started wearing her lucky winter fur hat with the flaps down over her ears. This hat was special for her, her great great grandfather had given it to her grandfather who then gave it to her dad, and it was black and in the middle the Soviet Red Star with the golden-yellow Hammer and Sickle symbol inside of it. The day before Maya, Lyudmila, and Tanya had decided to write "меткий стрелок", on the left hand side of the IS-2's turret in black, the Cyrillic writing translated to "Metkiy strelok" in Russian or "Marksman" in English. When Katyusha saw this she requested Maya to write something in Cyrillic for her. Maya wrote "Катюша" on Katyusha's tank, this literally meant "Katyusha" in English. She also wrote "гигант" or "Giant" on the KV-2.

"Is there anything you can do to speed up the loading times Maya?" came a voice from behind her. Maya looked behind her and saw Nonna smiling back at her.

"I can try" shrugged Maya

"Let's see then, Lyudmila want to take the IS-2 out?" Katyusha called as she walked in. Tanya was sick today so Katyusha would fill in the role of the commander.

"Sure" came a voice from inside the IS-2. Once everyone had filled her respective position Katyusha told Lyudmila to go forward full. The IS-2 finally reached the target range. Katyusha pulled out a stopwatch.

"Maya load Composite Rigid" came Katyusha's command

An IS-2 loader had to load in the cartridge and the projectile separately, Maya wanted to modify the cartridge to carry the projectile too, but it was against the rules. Maya loaded both of them as quick as she could in the uncomfortably cramped IS-2, this was a problem for pretty much all of the Russian tanks.

"Up!"

Katyusha looked at her stopwatch, 19.3 seconds

"Ute!" Nonna fired down-range

"Load Armor Piercing Ballistic Capped"

Maya took the cartridge marked BR-471B and pushed it into the gun breech following up with the necessary cartridge.

"Loading Complete!"

19.1 seconds

"Shūto! And Load HE!" yelled Katyusha

The 122mm gun barked again.

Maya loaded a OF-471 High Explosive/Fragmentation shell and yelled

"Round loaded!"

18.98 seconds

Nonna fired the HE

"I think that was fast enough, good job, Lyudmila all ahead full, lets see how we did." Katyusha said satisfied.

The target was literally gone; Nonna must have hit every shot, from at least 760 m (830 yards if your American). The two Russians looked in amazement at the success of their gunner. Katyusha laughed.

"You still haven't gotten used to the accuracy of Nonna have you?"

"Nyet" replied the two girls as they shook their heads.

**Pravda Meeting Room**

Maya had been invited to the strategy meeting, since she knew the German and Russian styles of fighting more than anyone. She looked around and saw she was the only one that didn't command a tank (Nonna being the only exception).

"I think we should take the offensive, the best offence is a good defense, right?" said Mana, Sickle-2's commander

"I suggest the opposite, we should find a defensible position and hold them off," retorted Kira, Hammer-5's commander.

"What do you think we should do Maya?" asked Katyusha in a thoughtful tone.

"Well…if they follow the German style and they probably have Panzers, Tigers, at least one Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger, they will just deflect our shots if we face them head on, and if we try to do a defensive battle they will just encircle us and take us out one by one. So I will suggest a Guerilla battle, pop in, take a shot, then run away." Replied Maya

The room went silent. Sora, Sickle-4's commander spoke up.

"But what if they catch us in an ambush? We won't have a chance. I agree with Kira, we should take a defensive position somewhere."

"Why don't we try both?" asked Maya "We will have Hammer and Sickle groups defend somewhere while Star group can ambush the enemy from behind." At this everyone in the room nodded their approval. Katyusha clapped her hands together.

"Right! We will go with that! We will teach Kuromorimine that Pravda is a force to be reckoned with!"

Everyone pumped their fists into the air and yelled

"URA!"


	8. The Rivals

**_Author's Note_**

**Okay Pravda's first match against Kuromorimine (notice I said first). All right here it goes, an-SHUT UP AND GET BACK TO THE STORY.**

"Okay, just like we planned, Hammer and Sickle is going to High Point 194. Star is to hide at B096 and ambush the enemy from behind; I want Star to prioritize Jagdpanthers, King Tigers, and Jagdtigers. Hammer and Sickle if you have time, dig in. This match follows total annihilation rules, so we need to destroy every last one of them." Katyusha stated to her team.

"I'm freezing," whimpered Hanako

"What did you expect? It's Russia" Tanya said

"Keep your engines running don't want them to stall during a fight." Suggested Lyudmila

Maya lifted up a APBCR round to Nonna who then gave it to the two KV-2 loaders inside of the IS-2 who were helping Maya and Nonna put shells into the tank. Choko was a senior so she would be leaving after this year. By this time Maya was now aware that Kuromorimine had won 9 times in the Nationals, prior to this year.

'Well this is going to be hard' she thought to herself

There was a rumbling noise, and 20 German tanks appeared behind Pravda's tanks. Pravda was quick to react, their drivers doing a 180-degree turn to face the tanks. Tensions died down when two of the command hatches opened, the ones on the Tigers I and II. One dark haired and one lighter haired girl.

"It seems that we caught the enemy off guard." Said the Dark-brown haired girl, looking at the other. A voice from the loud speaker blasted a notice.

"All teams dismount your vehicles, immediately, thank you."

Tanya opened the commander hatch, letting light from the morning sun sweep over them. Maya jumped out the loader-side hatch, Lyudmila followed Tanya and Nonna out of the Commander hatch. There was a soft crunch when Maya hit the ground. It was rather cloudless that day, and there wasn't much snow, but it was still cold.

"New sub-captain, eh Maho?" asked Katyusha looking at the light brown haired girl across from Nonna

"This is my sister Miho, she is a first year." Explained Maho

Miho nodded a hello towards the Pravda team, not really wanting to speak. She was shivering slightly.

'Poor girl' Maya thought. Kuromorimine's team had not dressed all that properly for the north.

"Wonderful weather we're having eh?" joked Katyusha

Maho grimaced; she was obviously as cold as the rest of them. Then three women each with a badge with the word "Judge" written on it, walked in a single file line down the column of tanks before fanning out into a row. The two school's tank commanders were lined into two columns. Maya was with Lyudmila trying to fix their V-2IS engine it had stalled again. Finally after a couple minutes Lyudmila got the engine started. The judges were startled at first, and then Lyudmila popped her head out of the driver's hatch.

"Sorry we had to deal with an engine stall"

"That's fine," said the one on the right.

"Captains, shake hands." Commanded the middle one

Katyusha and Nonna stepped forward as did Maho and Miho and shook each other's hand.

"Let's have a good match" they said to each other


	9. First Match!

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you guys for the feedback. It has been much appreciated. Special thanks to severstal who posted a painfully true review of my story. I admit I had made Maya a little bit OP (I didn't mean to), and I forgot about the Tankery Rules saying you can't modify the rounds, especially not in the cramped Russian interior of an IS-2. So if you have been following the story please re-read the chapters for the improvements. I have also made Maya's Japanese significantly worse (this will come back to bite her in the ass later).**

**Spasibo,**

**Alexi V. Talenski**

**6****th**** Guards Mechanized Corps**

**4****th**** Tank Army**

"Match Start!" came the announcer's voice

Hammer and Sickle's tanks started to head to High Point 194 to the North-north west while Star group headed to B096 in the direct west. High Point 194 was the biggest hill on the playing field and the best defensive position Katyusha could find, hopefully Hammer and Sickle could make it up that hill and have enough time to form a line of defense. Star was to hid in the forest at B096 and wait until Kuromorimine team started attacking, before going full speed (but unfortunately this meant going 25.6 kilometers an hour, because of the KV-2's awful speed). Katyusha was at the front of the formation with Kukiko's team at her left and Nonna's team on her right with the KV-2 trailing close behind. A voice crackled over the radio, it was Hammer-1.

"We are at 194, heading up now"

Katyusha seemed happy to know this

"Good work, have your rear-guard watch behind you"

"Hai!" came Hammer-1's reply

Maya felt a tap on her right-shoulder, she saw Nonna looking down at her.

"Load APCR Maya"

Maya loaded in the projectile then the cartridge, before giving Nonna thumbs up. Maya was worried, if Kuromorimine managed to break Pravda's line before they got there, they would be extremely vulnerable. Another voice broke the silence, it was Sickle-6.

"I see 19 tanks, 790 meters and closing, I don't see their Jagdtiger"

"Hold fire until they are 400 meters away" Katyusha commanded

Katyusha was worried, where was their tank destroyer?

"This is Hammer group we are in position"

"Sickle group ready to go!"

"Okay! Nice job guys!" Katyusha was relieved that they had made it up the hill.

"They are 390 meters away, UTE!" yelled Sickle-3 over the radio.

They heard cracks of the T-34's guns in the distance. Then heard more cracks this time of the German Tigers and Panzers.

"Star group full throttle!" Katyusha yelled over comms.

There was a lurch as the tanks started to suddenly move.

'Here we go' thought Maya

They broke out of the tree line and saw 10 of the 19 tanks start to creep up the hill the other 9 were probably a second wave.

"All tanks halt" Katyusha said

"Tanya switch out" Nonna climbed back into the tank and made room for Tanya to get in the commander's position, before moving to the gun position.

"Targets 375 meters." Katyusha stated

"Star-2 ready" Tanya said

"Star-3 ready" Shinako stated

"Star-4 ready to give them hell!" yelled Kukiko

"UTE!" yelled Katyusha

All of them fired a volley of shells at the advancing tanks. Katyusha's shot hit a King Tiger's upper glacis and failed to penetrate, Nonna's shot hit a Panzer III/IV in the rear knocking it out, Star-3's shot missed it's intended target but did hit the same King Tiger that Katyusha bounced off of right next to it, knocking it out, and Star-4's shot hit the Jagdtiger and bounced off.

"Nice shots!" Katyusha yelled with glee.

Maya was loading when she heard a loud BOOM and Star-4 became engulfed in smoke.

"We're hit!"

"What the-? How?" asked Tanya, poking her entire head out of the command hatch. She looked around and saw a big tank destroyer to their left.

"Svyatoye der'mo…JAGDPANTHER TO THE LEFT!" she yelled over the radio.

But before anyone could get a shot off the Jagdtiger's 12.8cm Pak 44 L/55 gun fired again.

"Tanya get in the-" Lyudmila tried to yell, but a round hit their tank. It had luckily bounced off of the front armor because Lyudmila had tried to angle the tank against the shell, but the force of the impact caused Tanya's head to bang against the side of the open command hatch, knocking her out.

"Tanya!" yelled Maya, noticing the girl slumped into her seat, there was a trickle of blood running down her face.

"Maya finish loading and take the gunner seat I'll take care of Tanya." Nonna said

"Okay" replied Maya, loading the cartridge into the breech, and moving into the gunner position. She set the sights on the Jagdpanther.

"Take this you son of a-" she fired, but when the smoke cleared she saw that she had missed"

"Chert" Maya swore, moving around the cramped interior of her tank to get another round. She had to be liberal with these shots because an IS-2 could hold only 28 rounds, thanks to the small interior and the separate ammo. Nonna was with Tanya with a first aid kit, putting a bandage on her head. Maya loaded in another round. She turned to move back to the gunner position and saw Nonna in it, she looked over and saw Tanya with a bandage on her forehead. Nonna fired hitting the Jagdtiger's gun and disabling it. Even Nonna looked surprised at that shot.

"Well…I wasn't aiming there but that's okay I guess"

Then a voice crackled over the radio.

"We are being overrun! Hammers 1, 3, 5 and 8 are out! So are Sickles 2, 4, 6 and 7!"

"Me and Star-2 will break them up for you! Hold on!" yelled Katyusha

"We've been hit!" came another frantic voice from over the radio

"Hammer 2 is out!"

"Star 3 catch up with us later! We need to help them, fast!" Katyusha yelled

"Lyudmila full speed! GO!" yelled Nonna

Nonna fired again, this time she missed. Maya was swearing under her breath, each round seemed to be getting heavier. Maya struggled to put the projectile in; once it was in she put in the cartridge.

"Gun ready" she panted

Nonna fired another shot, the round bounced off a Tiger I.

"Maya load HE, we can at least de-track them" Nonna stated, calmly

Maya loaded another shell, it was taking her longer to load, and her 3 rounds a minute dropped to 2. When she was finally done. She patted Nonna on the back. Nonna fired at a Panzer III, knocking it out.

"Sickle 1 and 3 are knocked out!" yelled Mari

"So are Hammers 4,6, and 7!" yelled Mari

Nonna saw the command tank, a King Tiger it's turret was aiming somewhere behind them. It fired, hitting Star-3's turret head on. The distinctive **Pop** of a white flag could be heard.

"Star-3 eliminated" came a voice from Shinako

"Chert" said Katyusha, realizing that they had lost the 152 mm gun.

Maya was frustrated, how did the plan go so wrong? Nonna fired another shot, knocking the Jagdpanther's tracks off, the command hatch popped open and the commander started to yell at them.

"Oh come on! Do you know how heavy that track is!?"

Maya found this amusing, as she loaded another shell in, this time APBCR, the IS-2 pulled up next to the Jagdpanther, the commander's eyes widened and shoved her head back into the tank.

'Smart move' Maya thought as Nonna fired a shell into the side plating of the Jagdpanther.

"Damn! Sickle 5 is gone, Sickle group is all immobilized" came another voice.

Another explosion was heard.

"Shit! Hammers 2, 9, and 10 are down, Hammer group is gone!"

There was a silence, there was no way that they had been defeated that quickly, then suddenly Katyusha's tank was hit, as was Maya's tank. Two white flags appeared above their tanks. Maya looked up from her loader position and saw Maho and Miho, the other team's commanders, half out of their tanks, guns smoking.

"All of Pravda's Tanks are immobilized, Kuromorimine Girls High School takes the match!" the announcer stated.

There was a cheer from the Kuromorimine girls. Maho and Miho remained silent. Maya grabbed a fire extinguisher and put out a small fire that was near the engine. She noticed Tanya had woken up after being their tank disabled.

"What happened?" she asked

"You slammed your head against the command hatch when the Jagdtiger hit us, we lost the match" Nonna replied. At this Tanya groaned, putting a hand to her wound.

All teams dismounted their tanks and stood in a line, all of Pravda's team members had dust covering their faces and in Tanya's case, some blood when they were knocked out. On the other hand Kuromorimine had only 7 teams that had went down. They bowed.

"Thank you for the match" they all said.

And so Pravda had lost their first match of the season.


	10. Names Revealed

**_Author's Note:_**

**Pravda's first match…well, I had to stick to the canon storyline and I actually wanted Pravda to lose this match initially so people can see Maya is not invincible. Anyway, yes, I had wanted to put Jagdpanther-chan in the story, and what better way to do it than the good old de-tracking of her Jagdpanther? And the reason Maya was getting tired after the 3****rd**** shell was because of that goddamn 122mm, 25-kilogram separate ammunition. Anyway…SHUT UP ALEXI AND GET BACK TO THE STORY.**

**Alexi V. Talenski**

Yukari was at home watching TV, she was flipping through channels when she saw a heavily damaged IS-2 being pulled away by a recovery team. The newswoman said.

"This weekend Pravda High lost a friendly match to the currently un-defeated Kuromorimine High, 7-20. Kuromorimine surrounded and destroyed a defensive perimeter with minimal losses, before destroying a ambushing team sent by Pravda."

The screen cut to Tigers and Panzers slowly crawling up a hill taking out Pravda's T-34s one by one.

"Pravda has finally given up the names of the 3 mystery students on their team. Their names are Maya Stanislavna Talenski, Lyudmila Dimitrichna Karzikov, and Tanya Vasilyevna Morvevsky, all of them are first year students."

Yukari wasn't surprised that Pravda had lost to Kuromorimine, even with the newest edition to Pravda's team it was expected that Pravda would lose to the 9-year champions. Some friendly matches were played on TV, especially if it was between two rivals like Pravda and Kuromorimine, Yukari didn't see the match because it was during school hours, but the news showed some clips from the match. Then Yukari remembered she had her mom record the matches on the DVR. She turned the match on, Pravda's line seemed to hold out at first, and then the second wave of Tigers started to do a pincer movement. That's when 2 T-34/85s, a KV-2 and IS-2 popped out of the forest and fired a volley at the advancing first wave. That's when the Jagdtiger appeared knocking the newly arrived T-34 out, before firing again, this time hitting the IS-2, causing the commander of that tank to bang her head against the side, but the shot only glanced. The IS-2 fired and missed, then the Jagdtiger fired and missed. The IS-2 finally reloaded and knocked out the Jagdtiger. Suddenly a cloud of smoke appears in the middle of Pravda's line; about 7 or 8 tanks had been hit and knocked out. Slowly the Tigers closed the gap, knocking more T-34s out. Their Jagdpanther had been de-tracked, then knocked out, but it was too late, the rest of the T-34s were wiped out, then all guns fired on the advancing IS-2 and T-34, the KV-2 had been knocked out by a King Tiger, while advancing. Pravda had been crushed within 27 minutes of fighting. She had noticed that the IS-2's rate of fire slowly declined with each shot.

"Loader must of gotten tired, either that or the gunner's aiming time went up" she said to herself

"Yukari! Are you doing your homework?" yelled her mom from downstairs.

"Yes Mom!" Yukari yelled back scrambling to get her homework out of her bag.


	11. 62nd Nationals

Everyone had thought Katyusha would be mad at them, after all they had lost horribly to Kuromorimine. Tanya was close to tears; she believed that because she was knocked out, Pravda lost the match. It was only when Nonna put her hand on Tanya's shoulder and convinced her that no-one was mad at her. She looked around and saw everyone was smiling at her.

"See? Nobody hates you." came a voice from behind, it was Katyusha

"It's okay we lost, I mean it's not like we were in a tournament or anything."

"Speaking of which…" said Nonna

**_4 Days Later- Yamato Memorial Centre- Kobe_**

Maya looked at the banner that was unfolded and hung up on the ceiling, _62nd National High School Tankery Games_.

"Whoa, this place is huge," said Lyudmila in Russian. At this Nonna nodded and said.

"Very" also in Russian

Suddenly the PA crackled and a woman's voice said.

"All participants please find your respective seats, thank you." Maya didn't understand what the woman had said so she got help from Nonna. Once they were in their seats they saw a giant screen, on this was the brackets where the school name would go when a school picked their number, this was done by having the team captain of the school come up and pick up a random card from a box, the number on that card would determine who you were up against. For instance if St. Isabelle's Academy for Girls (a French Style school from the Hiroshima prefecture) were to pick the number 1 and Wu'an High School (a Chinese style school from the Totorri prefecture) were to pick number 2, they would face each other, etc.

**_Quick Note: Yes I am going to follow the tradition of Girls und Panzer and make the "new" schools have their own stereotype._**

"First up, Kuromorimine Girls High School, Graf Zeppelin class School-Ship."

Maho walked up to the stand and pulled out a card, 9. There were 16 teams competing in the tournament. There were a couple other minor schools called up before the next "big" school was called up.

"Anzio High School, Giuseppe Garibaldi class School ship" a girl with braided hair in a black uniform walked up, she had a red armband with the school's insignia on it, a pizza. She chose the number 3.

"St. Gloriana Girls Academy, Ark Royal class School-Ship." A blonde haired girl in a blue uniform stepped up. Her number was 15.

"St. Isabelle's Academy for Girls, Hiroshima Prefecture" A light browned haired girl with a ponytail nearly went and skipped to the podium. Number 16. This meant the good old "Anglo-French" rivalry would appear from these two.

"Wu'an High School, Totorri Prefecture" a Black haired girl trudged up to the stand and pulled out number 2.

"Saunders University High School, Saratoga class School-Ship." A tall blonde girl popped from her seat, and got the Number 1. There was a groan from Wu'an; this was the 4th time in a row they had been stuck with Saunders on the first match. Then another 7 schools were called. Then finally.

"Pravda High School, Kuznetsov class School-ship"

Katyusha stood up to Nonna's right and walked to the cards. When she got up there she realized she couldn't reach.

"Nonna!" yelled Katyusha

Nonna got up and walked up to the stage. She picked up Katyusha and put her on her shoulders before taking a card and handing it up to Katyusha. This caused some laughter, but was quickly silenced by Katyusha simply stating.

"Shut up!"

Katyusha held up the card, the Number was 4. Once Katyusha was back in her seat everyone started clapping. Then the list of the First Matches started to show up, Including.

**Kuromorimine Girls High School vs. Keiun University High (a Japanese style school from the Tokyo prefecture)**

**Saunders University High School vs. Wu'an High School**

**St. Gloriana Girls Academy vs. St. Isabelle's Academy for Girls**

**Anzio High School vs. Pravda High School**

**_Author's Note_**

**I got the School-ship names by looking up names of the respective country's aircraft carriers. Wu'an High is named after a city in China, and St. Isabelle's Academy is named after the French saint, Isabelle, Keiun University High is named after a Japanese era name. Just explaining so you don't get confused. And the ending part? Well Katyusha's habit of sitting on Nonna's shoulders had to start somewhere right?**

**_Alexi Vasilyevich Talenski_**


	12. Introductions

**_Author's Note_**

*** Sigh * it's that time again, unfortunately I will be following the traditions of the anime series, and this means, the introduction video (or chapter) So with my greatest sorrow here are the Characters that appear in the story (ones that I made up or (later on, ones that did appear in the OVA-Winter War but were not talked about after that). I will not cover everybody that I made up but a fair few.**

**Name: **Maya Stanislavna Talenski

**Position: **Loader

**Tank: **IS-2

**Favorite Tank: **TOG-II

Maya was born in Boston, Massachusetts on June 22nd, when she was three her family moved to a small town outside of Moscow, Russia. She has short blonde hair and amber eyes; she is about 4 feet 11 inches tall. She can lift heavy objects but she is easily tired when she does. She is among the three Russian students to be transferred to Pravda High School.

**Name: **Lyudmila Dmitrievna Karzikov

**Position: **Driver

**Tank: ** IS-2

**Favorite Tank: **MS-1

Lyudmila was born in St. Petersburg on August 23rd. She has long blonde hair and blue eyes; she is 5 feet 1 inch tall. Lyudmila's father taught her how to drive a stick when she was 14. She is also a Russian transfer.

**Name: **Tanya Vasil'yevna Morvevsky

**Position: **Commander/Gunner (Situational)

**Tank: **IS-2

**Favorite Tank: **Pz. Kpfw. 35(t)

Tanya was born in a small town near Volgograd on July 12th. She has short dark brown hair and green eyes, she is 5 feet tall. Tanya has been studying Japanese culture and language from when she was 7, she is the best Japanese speaker out of the three Russians.

**Name: **Kukiko Yawashi

**Position: **Commander

**Tank: **T-34/85

**Favorite Tank:** Alecto

Student Council President

**Name: **Chika Nizikawa

**Position:** Commander

**Tank: **T-34/76

**Favorite Tank: **Hetzer

Leader of Hammer Group

**Name: **Mari

**Position: **Commander

**Tank: **T-34/85

**Favorite Tank: **Type 97 Chi-Ha

Leader of Sickle Group

**Name:** Jagdpanther-chan

**Position**: Commander

**Tank: **Jagdpanther

**Favorite Tank: **Jagdpanther

Hates being de-tracked

(**Yes I know she is in the original anime, I just needed to mention her)**


	13. Numbers

"Maya get up, the match is at 12:30" Lyudmila said, shaking Maya awake. Maya went into the bathroom to brush her teeth and put on her uniform.

"How did you get in here?" Maya asked.

"Forgot to lock your door again, you really need to stop that." Replied Lyudmila, looking around the room.

"It is still as messy as your old one in Moscow" Lyudmila joked. This made Maya smile.

"Is Tanya's head ok?" asked Maya.

'The doctor said she would be good for the match, just not to bang her head again. Nonna and Star-3 have already loaded the APCR and the HE, they are waiting on you at the tank bay."

"Thanks Lyudmila, do you want some Oladyi?" asked Maya gesturing towards the food she was cooking

"Nyet, I already ate, I am going down to the tank bay also, the engine has quit again."

"God, one day we will be chasing a flag tank and our engine will quit." Maya said

"Da…anyway see you in the bay." Lyudmila walked out of Maya's apartment. Maya took 10 minutes eating, she then went off to the tank bay. When she got there Choko asked.

"Do you want to load in APBCE? We have 5 ammunition spots left."

"I don't know much about Italian tanks but let's just load in 4 APBCE and another Tracer" Maya answered

"Hai! Come on you're helping this time" They ran over to the ammo and lifted it to Chizo and Nonna.

"Shells are ready, cartridges are ready, but the engine is…" Nonna said, jumping down from the tank. Just as she finished the sentence, the engine coughed and started up. The tank lurched forward.

"Lyudmila! Stop the tank!" Maya yelled in Russian

The tank came to a halt about 4 meters from Chizo.

"Sorry! I accidentally pushed forward on the clutch with my foot!" Lyudmila's voice rang out.

"It's fine just get out of the tank" Choko yelled back

"I'm here!" yelled Tanya

"So am I!" called Katyusha.

"Do we know what tanks we will be facing?" asked Maya

"They have one Carro-Armato P-40 heavy tank, three L3/33 tankettes, four Semovente 75/18 self propelled guns, and two Fiat M13/40 medium tanks."

"We only can bring 10 of our crews, so who should we bring?" asked Nonna

"We will bring four T-34/76s of Hammer group, four T-34/85s including Sickle-group and myself, the KV-2, and the IS-2" Katyusha replied

"What about the flag tank?" asked Tanya

"One of Hammer group's T-34/76s will take that role" Katyusha stated

**_12:00: 30 minutes before the match. Briefing_**

A row of 10 Green Russian tanks was lined up facing where Anzio's team would start off. Maya noticed the number 010 written on the IS-2's frontal armor plate, it was also written on the left hand side of the turret.

"What is this for?" Maya asked pointing at the numbers on her tank.

"Well I had to find a way to better organize our tanks, all that Sickle, Hammer, and Star nonsense gets confusing at times, so I put numbers on each tank, you are tank 10 this match and in the quarter-finals, if we make it to the semi-finals you will be 15, and if we somehow make it to the finals you'll be tank 20." Katyusha replied

"How does that work?" asked Maya

"Well, I did it in order of formation, since you and the KV-2 are bringing up the rear you will be tanks 9 and 10, etc."

"But we are ahead of the KV-2 in the formation" said Tanya overhearing the conversation.

"And our number in Star group was 2 and the KV-2's team was 3" Lyudmila replied.

"Didn't you hear me during the last meeting? Star-3 is now Star-2, you guys are Star-3, and the KV has the 152 mm gun, which makes it way more powerful and important than your tank" Katyusha shot back

"I thought you liked it more because you could look down on us with it, because it was taller" mumbled Maya

"Apparently someone was listening to the comments AFTER the briefing" Katyusha said, obviously hearing Maya's comment

Then a P-40 heavy tank crested the hill in front of them. The commander of the tank got out.

"It's Anchovy Anzio's overall commander" said Nonna

"Nice match you had with Kuromorimine, Katyusha!" Anchovy mocked

"Anchovy again huh? Maybe you forgot about last year didn't you?" Katyusha yelled back

"That was pure luck! We were about to crush you!" Anchovy retorted.

"If by crush you mean you were about to destroy one of our tanks, then yes you were pretty close"

"Why you short, ignorant little…" Anchovy was about to say something else but then she saw every crew from Pravda stare at her, in disbelief

"Nobody calls me short, especially not you" Katyusha stepped forward menacingly as did a couple of other girls, some of whom were a lot taller than Anchovy. Then Anchovy spun on her heels and started sprinting towards her tank.

"What happened over there?" asked her driver

"I think I angered them" Anchovy replied "Let's get back"


	14. Even more Surprises in the First Match

"Let's get going" came Katyusha's voice from over the radio "I want a V-formation, with the KV and the IS-2 in the rear, the flag tank, in this case it is Tank-05, will be in between the main formation and the rear-guard, got it?"

"Hai!" came the reply from the other tankers

"Nonna? Ready?" asked Katyusha over the radio

"Ready" came the answer

"All right everyone you have tuned into to Pravda High radio, feel free to sing along if you know the words, this is a little song called "Katyusha", some of you might be very familiar with it" Katyusha said in a imitation voice of a American radio-station host.

Maya, Tanya and Lyudmila look at each other in shock, Katyusha?

"Everyone ready?"

"Hai!" came the reply from every tanker, including Maya, Lyudmila, and Tanya after Nonna had told them the choir teachers had taught this song to them along with a couple of Russian choir teachers.

"Well that's why I though I heard familiar music coming from the second floor" Tanya said

Music was suddenly heard from Tank-05 (proabably a speaker set) and it played a familiar tune, then Nonna started it off. **(If you want to listen to the actual song (aka with the final verse) copy and paste this onto youtube: Катюша- Марина Девятова**.**)**

_'Rastsvetali iabloni i grushi_

_Poplyli tumany nad rekoy_

_Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha_

_Na vysokij bereg na krutoj_

_Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha_

_Na vysokij bereg na krutoj_

**_Then Katyusha sang the next verse_**

_Vykhodila, pesniu zavodila_

_Pro stepnogo, sizogo orla_

_Pro togo kotorogo liubila_

_Pro togo chi pisma beregla_

_Pro togo kotorogo liubila_

_Pro togo chi pisma beregla_

**That's when everyone else chimed in**

_Oj ty, pesniu, pesenka devichia_

_Ty leti, za iasnym solntsem vsled_

_I bojtsu na dalem prograniche_

_Ot Katyushi peredaj privet_

_I bojtsu na dalem prograniche_

_Ot Katyushi peredaj privet_

_Pust on vspommit devushku prostuiu _

_Pust ulshlyshit, kak ona poet_

_Pust on zemliu berezhet rodnuiu_

_A liubov Katyusha sberezhet_

_Pust on zemliu berezhet rodnuiu_

_A liubov Katyusha sberezhet_

_Otsvetali, yabloni i grushi,_

_uplyli tumani nad rekoi._

_Ukhadyila z byerega Katyusha,_

_unasyila pyesen'ku damoi._

_Ukhadyila z byerega Katyusha,_

_unasyila pyesen'ku damoi._

**Then there was a second of silence, then.**

"Let's crush the enemy this time, not track back!" yelled Katyusha

"URA!"

**(And yes, yes that was a reference to Stalin's Order 227 otherwise known as "Ni shagu nazad" or "Not one step back!", thanks for asking)**


End file.
